Why do otters juggle? It sounds like the opening to a joke, but many otters are frequently seen shifting pebbles back and forth between their hands, an activity referred to by scientists as "juggling." While animal behaviorists have thought that the juggling is a way for the animals to practice pulling meat from crustaceans and mollusks, a task that requires fine motor skills and coordination. However, researcher Mari-Lisa Allison and colleagues from the University of Exeter found that otters who frequently juggled didn't exhibit any better food-picking skills. Turns out they're probably just doing it because it's fun. From Science News:
The possible disconnect between play and real-life skills doesn’t startle Gordon Burghardt of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Over decades, he has analyzed play behavior, refining definitions and even reporting play in such unexpected animals as a turtle romping with a basketball in a zoo. The thinking about the evolution of play has by now expanded beyond simple notions of the benefits of instinctive practice, he says[...]
Otters that juggle may be doing so “for pleasure, out of boredom, or both,” he says.
"The drivers and functions of rock juggling in otters" (Royal Society Open Science)
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David Rush now holds the Guinness World Record for the most juggling catches in 60 seconds. Rush had the record before, with 556 catches, until Michael Ferreri snatched it with 558. Now, 586 catches later, the record is Rush's once again. From UPI:
Rush also decided to take on his own record for speed juggling using the slower cascade pattern of juggling and managed 502 catches in one minute, beating his own 2016 record of 428 catches.
The Idaho man, who has broken more than 100 Guinness records to promote STEM education, said the speed juggling records were the most difficult that he has attempted.
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This is a great clip. If you're into jugglers doing funny things or 500-volt stun guns, you're in for a treat. Read the rest
This weekend I'm camping in a secret location with a bunch of nutty geniuses. Two of them are Jon Wee and Owen Morse, a comedy juggling team who work together as The Passing Zone. They're performing Saturday night, September 8, 2018, at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in St. Joseph MN, not far from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Read the rest
A buugeng is an S-shaped staff that looks like an ancient weapon but is a recent invention for jugglers and performers, often used in pairs. YouTuber Silent Awareness gives a lovely demonstration with an LED-embedded set. Read the rest
What a difference 10 minutes a day makes. This man wanted to learn how to juggle, so he practiced for 10 minutes every day for 30 days. This comparison video shows us how far he progressed from Day 1 to Day 30. Read the rest
For those of you who don’t know, my pancake juggling friend Scot Nery has been putting on a circus & variety show in L.A. for last 111 weeks. Rain or shine, he has introduced a ridiculous amount of energy and the best talent from around the world.
The show is called Scot Nery’s Boobie Trap and there is nothing else like it. Really! You’ve got to see this show!
The format is unique in that it features fifteen 4-minute acts that are peppered with Scot’s frenzied hosting personality and his awesome house band Fire Leopard.
The show is eccentric and the entertainers rotate every week so you never know what you’re going to get. In the past we’ve seen:
Guinness-Record-holding hula-hoopers
World champion knife throwers
Cirque de Soleil aerialists
Amazing Ventriloquists
Standup comedians
Sword swallowers
Contortionists
Magicians
Musicians
Jugglers
And now, each and every Wednesday, Scott and his talented army have a brand new home at 6555 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
The doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $25 at the door and $17 if you buy them in advance.
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A college student in Arkansas got pulled over for a broken tail light, then passed a sobriety test by living up to his car's vanity license plate: JUGGLER. Read the rest
A few months ago I was introduced to a magical, magnetic toy called the Feel Flux and the folks who invented it just sent their newest invention – the Feel Flux Skill Set.
It’s the same toy as before except now, there are two tubes to play with – and since it’s a bit like juggling, the gravity-defying effect can be virtually endless.
Each time you drop the metal ball through the tube you’d expect it to zip out the other end but instead, it lazily creeps from one end to the other and dribbles out into your waiting hand.
I can’t wait for the inevitable three-tube version to hit the market!
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If you like videos of jugglers who take requests from the web, "Will It Juggle?" is for you. Watch Olga Kay oblige a request to juggle three cacti. Read the rest
It's amazing what we can learn to make our work more interesting to others, and to ourselves. (YouTube via Atlas Obscura)
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Fuman Musicoloco performing in Zaragoza, Spain.
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But can he chew gum at the same time? (RuboCubo, via Brad Kreit)
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Gentleman juggler Mat Ricardo writes, "Last week I got booked to travel to China and appear on their big world records TV show to pull the biggest tablecloth ever. Here's how none of that happened and I ended up literally fleeing to the airport." Read the rest
A round of synchronized applause for Vlad Gapanovich, Maxim Golovchenko, and Evgeniy Pahalovich! I haven't seen a multi-person juggling routine this captivating since The Flying Karamazov Brothers. The video, titled, um, "Drugs," was directed by Taras Pozdnyakov, founder of [Raw Art], a "post-circus" of graduates from the Kiev Circus Academy.
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Nathan Peterson built this fantastic "juggling" robot that can be programmed with different juggling patterns and handles more than five balls.
"I believe this is the first juggling robot to juggle more than 5 balls," Peterson says. "Yeah it's not toss juggling (into the air), but that would be my next project."
Build notes and images on imgur here.
Here's his full project page with previous designs.
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Mike is a good juggler, and when his kids expressed an interest in learning how to juggle, he made some kid-size juggling balls out of balloons and rice. The results look excellent!
Instead of buying smaller balls or hacky sacks, I used plans from juggler.org to make several kid-friendly balls. This worked perfectly because I wanted to practice with them while their interest and excitement was high, and together we were able to crank out several balls in about 15 minutes.
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